KINGSTON - The Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has taken issue with various statements in the public domain concerning the function of the authority in relation to accident and incident investigations.
The GCAA in a release said Guyana as a signatory to the Convention on International Civil Aviation is mandated to carry out a safety investigation in conformity with the protocols and procedures set out in Annex 13 to that convention.
“It must be made clear that this Annex 13 investigation is a safety investigation with the sole objective of preventing accidents and incidents. It is not the purpose of this type of activity to apportion blame or liability. These types of investigations are usually carried out by the national regulatory body for civil aviation. This is the practice internationally; Guyana is no different in this regard,” the body said.
The Civil Aviation (investigation of accidents) Regulations of 1982 makes provision for the appointment of an inspector of accidents for the purposes of carrying out an investigation into the circumstances and causes of accidents and incidents arising out of or in the course of air navigation, which occur to civil aircraft in or over Guyana, or elsewhere to civil aircraft registered in Guyana.
“To therefore infer that in conducting a safety investigation, GCAA is in essence investigating itself, is an obfuscation of the facts.
“While the GCAA, like other aviation authorities across the region, does not yet have the optimum level of resources, the authority has formed the necessary relationships that bring to bear any technical and human resources as the need arises.”
The aviation body said one such example is the relationship between the GCAA and the Caribbean Aviation Safety and Security Oversight System (CASSOS). While the GCAA does not have a full-time in-house flight operations inspector, the services of a qualified Inspector are made readily available through CASSOS.
“Indeed, the very reason for the existence of CASSOS is to provide the human and technical resources to address the existing regional deficiencies in these areas.
“It is important to note that the GCAA was staffed with an ICAO approved flight operations inspector but certain operators took to the courts to prevent him from carrying out his functions, resulting in his eventual departure from the authority. Since that time, the GCAA has been making continuous efforts to recruit a full-time, in-house flight operations inspector,” the GCAA.
With respect to the most recent accident, the GCAA has moved swiftly to carry out its mandate as it is required to do under national and international law. The authority is in contact with the relevant international agencies and has in place all the technical and human resources necessary for the completion of its safety investigation.
